New Alien game leaks as writer reveals why Isolation was so long

The writer behind Alien: Isolation has given an explanation of why the game is so long, as a sequel to a different Alien game emerges.

Alien: Isolation is one of the best examples of how to successfully adapt a popular IP into a video game, but it isn’t without its flaws.

The survival horror title might be one of the scariest games ever made, but it also outstays its welcome at roughly 20 hours long – with a repetitive structure, too few enemy types, and a story that goes nowhere.

The game’s writer, Dion Lay, has provided a possible explanation as to why the final game might’ve been too long – and it’s because the Alien itself was too smart.

Speaking on the FRVR podcast, Lay revealed that one of the reasons why Alien: Isolation feels long is because the xenomorph AI became more advanced during development, which made earlier sequences more difficult, and slower, to get through.

‘The Alien really evolved as we were making it,’ Lay said. ‘By the time it was perfect, it was like ‘Oh, wow, everything takes a lot longer!’ So, it would be really nice pare it down to its core, make it a lot shorter.’

They added: ‘At the time, it didn’t seem that long. And then you suddenly go, ‘Oh my God.’ So, yeah, I’d definitely shorten it, you know. But, yeah, at the time, there was some stuff where we were like: ‘Yeah, we can’t take that out now, that would kind of upend everything’.’

As announced last year, a sequel to Alien: Isolation is in development at Creative Assembly, although it’ll likely be a good few years yet.

However, a sequel to another Alien game also appears to be in the works. A rating for Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 has appeared on the website for the ESRB, the American age rating board for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

The sequel hasn’t been officially announced but it previously popped up last year in a leaked presentation from developer Cold Iron Studios. The original game, released in 2021, was a third person co-op shooter where you teamed up with others online to take down the xenomorph hordes.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is rated M for Mature 17+, with the ESRB describing it as having blood and gore, strong language, and violence – as you’d expect.

It’s unclear when Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 might be revealed, but the rating suggests an announcement, and release, could be imminent.

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